While some of the price is due to a weak (US) dollar (in itself part caused by misuse of credit), it seems that many of the major oil fields are in decline (such as North Sea, and even Russia according to recent news), and even Saudi Arabia is not pumping extra. If supply can not keep up with demand (which I expect) then we will see much higher prices.

Of course I could be wrong. The States could go into a major economic recession and so drag a lot of the world down along with them. In this case demand for oil will drop and the prices might drop a little.

Either way, the sensible thing would be to see if we could make changes to our lives that would conserve energy and save us money.

- Smaller cars. Already happening in the US as car makers are in terrible trouble except for small modelshttp://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/2008/04/march-auto-roundup-and-retail-sales.html- Increased reliance on public transport and walking in cities- Trading down in food, especially eating out and prepared meals- Decreased use of out-of-town retail parks- Smaller homes and decay in commutersville for park-and-ride dormitory towns